The wind in the height of summer was silent, leaving only the sound of cicadas chirping incessantly as they clung to the tree trunks.
The alley fell completely silent after that shout from Pi Tao'er.
The faces of the few children were filled with fear, and they stared at Xia Mian's face, not daring to make a sound.
Pi Tao'er tilted her head back, telling a lie with complete conviction.
Xia Mian opened her eyes wide, her brain spinning at high speed.
underworld? What underworld? Who? Her?
But this sentence was clearly more effective than her bringing up the police officer.
She watched as the faces of those little brats turned pale.
Except for Shui Cao.
...She didn't understand what underworld meant at all.
"I told you all not to mess with this female tyrant! Her brother is a underworld boss who specializes in tattooing people!"
"Then why didn't you say so when you were getting beaten up just now!"
The few children muttered to each other, thinking their voices were very quiet.
Xia Mian finally snapped out of her brainstorming. She coughed twice, stood up, looked down at the children, and put on an act.
"You few bullied my sister today, what do you want to do about it?" Xia Mian said. "In our line of work, we have to chop off a hand or a foot."
Upon hearing this, the children's already pale faces lost almost all their color.
They were all just older children who were easily frightened, and their expressions were written all over their faces.
Xu Zhenguo pursed his lips, still wanting to argue: "She was the one who hit us first..."
"Then we'll chop yours off first."
When Xu Zhenguo heard this, he completely broke down.
"I won't play with her anymore, is that enough!" He had been beaten and then threatened repeatedly, and now he was on the verge of tears.
Xia Mian kept a straight face: "No, you have to apologize to Shui Cao and my sister."
She was really getting into character now, pointing at the children like a big sister.
"You few who bullied a little girl must all apologize, otherwise I'll catch you and beat you one by one!"
Xu Zhenguo took the lead and apologized quickly, his hands crumpling the hem of his short-sleeved shirt.
"I'm sorry, we shouldn't have bullied you."
With someone backing her up, Pi Tao'er put her hands on her small waist and flicked her pigtails, which had come loose on one side, to the side.
"No! Shui Cao can't hear you, you have to be louder!"
Xu Zhenguo pursed his lips, gritting his teeth and keeping his mouth shut as if he had suffered a great humiliation, before finally shouting after a long time:
"I'm sorry! Shui Cao! I was wrong!"
"What were you wrong about!" Pi Tao'er asked.
"I shouldn't have left Shui Cao alone in the arcade!"
After apologizing, Xu Zhenguo looked at Xia Mian cautiously, waiting for her to speak.
Xia Mian looked at Pi Tao'er; the little girl was currently basking in her victory, her head held very high.
She nodded, putting on a satisfied look: "You can go now. Big sister is in a good mood today, so I won't chop off your little hands and feet."
Upon hearing this, the children screamed and scattered, crying as they ran.
Xia Mian turned back to look at Shui Cao and helped her touch her bottom.
She had seen Shui Cao touching it secretly just now, so she guessed she must have fallen hard.
"Xiao Tao, go back later and check if Shui Cao's bottom is hurt, okay?" Xia Mian instructed Pi Tao'er.
Who knew the little girl would shake her head and cling to her instead.
"You have to come back with me, you check it for her."
"Me?"
"If I go back like this, my brother will definitely know I was fighting outside. You come back with me and testify that it was that group who bullied Shui Cao, which is why I hit them, otherwise my brother will spank me again."
This was her first time acting as a witness for a child.
Perhaps she was just too bored, but she actually agreed.
Business at the Tattoo Shop wasn't very busy, and people didn't come and go that frequently; most of the time, they just stayed in the shop doing idle things.
Pi Tao'er pushed open the door and entered, with Xia Mian holding Shui Cao's hand following behind.
There was no one in the shop except for Zhou Ran, who was sitting on a chair practicing on a piece of simulation skin.
Hearing the sound of the wind chime, he looked up.
He was stunned by what he saw.
Pi Tao'er rushed into the room like a little maniac, heading straight for the refrigerator, and stood on tiptoe to take out a few bottles of soda.
Her hair was falling down and covering her face, while the other side was still in a pigtail, with a few strands floating in the heat, almost making Zhou Ran look foolish.
What a unique look.
When he looked again, he was stunned once more.
Shui Cao behind her didn't look much better; her clothes were covered in dirt, dusty, and her pants had changed color, looking like a tumblebug.
When he saw Xia Mian standing next to Shui Cao, he was stunned again.
It was fine if he didn't look up, but every time he did, he was stunned.
Zhou Ran looked at Pi Tao'er's messy hair and asked: "Out fighting again?"
Pi Tao'er kept a straight face, looking serious and angry, and started to climb onto the sofa.
Zhou Ran laughed.
The little brat was even ignoring him.
He tilted his chin toward Xia Mian: "Why are you here?"
Xia Mian looked at Pi Tao'er, trying to figure out how to start.
The person involved hadn't even spoken yet.
Pi Tao'er snorted: "Who told them to bully Shui Cao!"
Zhou Ran looked at Shui Cao: "Were you bullied?"
Shui Cao stood timidly beside Xia Mian without saying a word, and Xia Mian could feel a thin layer of sweat on her palms.
"Children don't know their limits when they mess around, she suffered a bit of a grievance," Xia Mian explained for Shui Cao.
"Did Lu Tao hit someone?"
Pi Tao'er retorted loudly: "I didn't hit anyone!"
Xia Mian looked at her.
The little girl wasn't good at lying; after all, she was just a child, holding the soda bottle without drinking it, her face and neck flushed red.
Zhou Ran couldn't be bothered to expose her and asked Xia Mian directly.
"Did she or didn't she?"
Pi Tao'er became nervous all of a sudden, her big eyes blinking as she stared straight at Xia Mian.
The room was only so big, and Xia Mian was standing at the doorway not far from Zhou Ran. She looked at the man, and her mind involuntarily recalled the scene on the second floor yesterday.
The man's skin was fair, and he was so close to her that she couldn't even see a single pore.
Between breaths, she could still feel the heat radiating onto her face.
It was the first time she had been that close to a male.
Xia Mian's face flushed red again, as if she were being ripened in this summer heat.
She stammered, taking a long time to straighten out her tongue.
"I didn't see it."
Zhou Ran raised half an eyebrow, feeling surprised by this answer.
He thought he would hear a "yes" or "no" answer from Xia Mian.
However, he caught the redness on Xia Mian's face, and he felt like laughing.
This girl seemed to have some kind of switch; she started blushing at the slightest thing.
Xia Mian felt a bit guilty, but she was indeed telling the truth; she really hadn't seen Pi Tao'er hit anyone.
Zhou Ran gave a short laugh, threw down the machine in his hand, stood up, and said to Pi Tao'er: "Wait for your brother to come back and deal with you."
Looking at Pi Tao'er's behavior, he could guess most of it.
It was nothing more than the little girl running into Xia Mian while fighting outside, and now she had brought someone back to give herself a bit of confidence.
Lao Lu never hit the children in front of outsiders.
She was quite cunning.
"Where is my brother?" Pi Tao'er asked. "I'm hungry."
"He went out to get things with your brother Zhuang Zhong. We'll go out to eat in a bit. Go wash that ghostly face of yours, don't go out and embarrass us later."
Zhou Ran took off his gloves and said to Shui Cao, who was beside Xia Mian: "You go too."
It was unclear if Shui Cao had heard him clearly, but Pi Tao'er had already jumped off the sofa and pulled Shui Cao into the restroom.
The shop was suddenly left with only Zhou Ran and Xia Mian.
The redness on her face hadn't faded yet, and being alone with Zhou Ran was even harder to bear.
"Then I'll be going first."
"Don't go yet, let's go together," Zhou Ran called out to her, pointing toward the restroom, "her savior."
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